Door latch



K. FORBES DOOR LATCH Filed Oct. 14, 1922 mllllllm Patented Feb l'i, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KINGSTON FORBES, 0F FLINT, MICHIGAN.

DOOR LATCIEQ Application filed October 14, 1922. Serial No. 594,433.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KINGSTON FORBES, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Flint, county of Genesee, and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Latches, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in door latches and particularly to latches adapted for use in connection with automo bile doors. An object of the invention is the provision of an improved and effective conof the lever, while hand actuated means, op-

erable from the inside, is adapted to act upon this lever at the opposite side of the pivot thereof, to cause the retractlon of the bolt.

e In the preferred embodiment of the invention a single lever is provided for retracting the bolt, the latter being spring pressed towards its operated positlon. This lever is normally engaged by the opposite ends of a curved arm pivoted intermediate its ends and adapted to be rotated in either direction by a hand lever on the outside of the door. Actuation of the hand lever in either direction serves to cause one of the ends of the curved arm to swing the bolt retracting lever in the roper direction to cause it to retract the b0 t against the force of the sprin The ends of a similar curved arm, similarly. pivoted, normally engage the opposite side of the bolt-retract ng lever at points located on the opposite side of the pivot of the lever, this arm being operated, preferably by a hand lever, from the lnside of the door, so that swinging the same 1n either direction will cause the retraction of the bolt. lVith'such a construction, it may be noted, the two. doorhandle levers will,

normally be held in desired angular positions such ashorizontal positions because of the; engagement of the opposite ends of the curvedafrms referred to with the lever, the

latter being pressed against the endsfiof these arms by suitable spring means. Further, a slmple and effective construction is provided in which handle means, preferably of the hand lever type, and rotatable in either direction to retract the bolt, may be utilized.

The invention consists in the novel constructlon, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described according to the preferred embodiments thereof. The invention will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood attention is hereby directed to the accompanying drawings forming part of this application and illustrating one form of apparatus embodying the invention. In the drawings Fig. 1 represents a front elevationof mechanism comprising the invention, partly shown broken away and partly in section, the bolt being shown as shot and the. inside and outside operating hand levers being shown in their normal inoperative positions;

2 is a similar view, the bolt being shown as, retracted by operation of the out side hand lever;

, Fig. 3 is a similar view, the bolt being shown as retracted by operation of the inside hand lever, and

Figs. 4 and 5 are sections taken respectively on lines 4.-4 and 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the supporting plate 1 carries the latch bolt 2, mounted to slide back and forth over the plate. The bolt is guided in its reciprocation by suitable means such as the casing comprising the top and bottom and side, portions 3 ex-- tending from plate 1 or secured thereto in any suitable manner. The bolt is normally pressed into its operative or shot position by suitable spring means such as the coil spring 4 illustrated as mounted in, position within the rear portion of the bolt casing, so as to bear a ainst the rear surface of the bolt. I It wil be understood that plate 1 and the device carried thereby may be secured in position upon the door in any v with a squared portion 15 which extends to be secured to the edge of the door, the nose of the latch bolt 2 extending through a suitable opening in this flange.

A lever 7 is pivotally mounted on the outside face of plate 1, that-is the face of the.

plate which is directed towards the outside of the door, thepivot pin 8 on which the lever is mounted being, as shown, intermediate its ends. The lower end of this lever extends through a suitable slot in the upper wall of casing 3 of bolt, 2, to bear against a shoulder 9 on the bolt, it being understood that the bolt is suitably formed or recessed as to permit the movement .otthe lower end of lever 7 within the bolt casing 3. Accordingly oscillation of lever 7 in a counter clockwise direction from the posit on shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown n Fig. 2, or Fig. 3, will result in the retraction of the bolt within its casing against the force or; spring 4. i

Handle means for retracting the bolt, in

the embodiment of the invention illustrated, comprises a hand lever 10 on the inside of the door and a handle member 11 on the outside of the door. Hand lever 10 1s provided'at one end with a boss 12 to which is secured a pin 13 which extends through and is rotatably mounted in supporting plate 1. A curved or inclined arm 14 is mounted on the outside face of plate land secured to pin 13. Pin 13 may be provided through a similarly shaped opening in arm 14 so as to cause the arm .to rotate with the pin when the latter is given a motion of rotation in one direction or the other.

Arm 14 is provided with upper and lower end portions 16, 16 both of which normally engage against the adjacent, or right hand, edge of the upper vertically extending po tion of lever 7, when hand lever 10 is in is normal horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 1. The pin 13 extends through and is secured to arm 14 at a. point intermediate the ends of the latter, as shown, the u per and lower portions of arm 14 being inclined or curved from the intermediate portion of the arm towards the adjacent portion of lever 7, so as to permit the engagement of the ends of the arm withlever 7. Preferably a metal strap 17 is secured to plate 1 to extend over the intermediate portion of arm 14 to hold the latter in position against the face of plate 1. A leaf spring 18 may, as shown, be secured to plate 1 and positioned to bear against an edge of lever 7 to press the opposite edge of the upper portion of the same firmly against the two end ortions of arm 14 when the parts are in t eir normal inoperative position.

With this construction it is obvious that bolt 2 may be retracted by swinging the in-' weasel such position. When the hand lever is swung downwardly, as shown in Fig. 3, the lower end portion 16 of arm 14 will engage the upper portion of lever 7 to cause the lower end of this lever to retract the bolt, as is shown in Fig. 3. Similarly when hand lever 10 is swung upwardly from its normal horizontal position the upper end 16 of arm 14 will engage lever 7 to retract the bolt.

The devicesiorretracting the bolt from the outside of the door may, as shown, be quite similar to the inside hand operated means. As shown, the hand bar 11 may be provided with a central boss 19 from which extends a spindle or pin 20 of square section, or having a squared portion, which extends through and is thus secured to the arm 21 at the intermediate portion of the latter. Arm 21 may be entirely similar to arm 14, arm 21 being provided with upwardly and downwardly extending end portions which are adapted to both engage against an edge of lever 7 when the hand lever or bar 11 is in its normal horizontal position. The ends of arm 21 engage against the edge of lever 7 opposite to the edge which is engaged by the ends of arm 14; since arm 21 is located below the pivot 8 of lever 7 while arm 14 is located above pivot 8, it is obvious that oscillation of arm 21 in either direction will cause the retraction of bolt 2. Thus, as is shown in ig. 2, handle bar 11 may be swung in one direction to cause the upper end of arm 21 to engage against and swing lever 7 into its bolt retracting position, while oscillation of handle bar 11 in the opposite direction from its horizontal position would cause the lower end of arm 21 to thus engage and swing lever 7. Arm 21 may be held in position against plate 1 by means of suitable strap 22, similar to the strap 17, referred to above. It will be noted that the lower end portion of arm 21 extends into bolt casing 3 through the 'efi'ective and compact arrangement is provided by the construction described. Battling of the parts, when the device is mounted on the door of an automobile, or

other vehicle, is prevented inasmuch as the lower endportion of lever 7 is normally pressed by spring 4 of the bolt against the nseaeer ends of arm 21, while spring it serves to v press the upper portion of lever if egainst the ends of errn it, when the parts are in their normal inoperative position.

it "will he noted that the devices ildndtreted specifically as arms M and 21 constitute cem. means, which normally engage lever 7 and are rotatable in either direction to operete the lever.

lit should he understood that the invention is not limited strictly to the details of construction which have been particularly described, hot that the some isas breed as is indiceted by the eccompanving claims.

What I claim is: v

1. in a. door latch, the comhination of a support, e bolt. niovohle horizontally thereon, e vertically entending lever pivoted interniediate its ends to said support end adapted to engage eigeinst the bolt to retrect the same, care means edapted normally to press against said lever et one side oi the pivot thereoit, on one side of the lever, cam means edeptednormelly to press egeinst said lever at the other side of the pivot thereoi, on the other side of the lever, each of the some being edepted, upon actnetion, to swing sold lever. to retract the bolt, end hand means toropereting seid' earn means.

2. in a, door letch, the comhinetion of a support, a bolt movelole thereon, e lever pivoted intermediate its ends to seid support.

and adapted to engage against the holt to retract the same, care means adapted normallyto press against seid lever et one side of the pivot thereoli", on one side of the lever,

cam means adapted normellv to ress against said lever st the other side o the pivot thereof, on the other side ot the lever, each of the some being rotatable in either direction from its normal engaging position, to swing said lever to retract the bolt, end hand means secured to said corn means-tor rotating the same. I 3. In a door let/ch, the comhinetion of or supporting plate, a bolt slidaloly mounted thereon and having an abutment, is spring pressing said bolt forwardly, e lever pivoted intermediate its ends to said plete'and having an end portion adapted to engage against said abutment to move said loolt in one direction against said spring, arms pivoted to said plate and adapted to engege said lever on opposite sides of the pivot thereot, one of said arms engaging said lever on one edge thereof opposite to the edge engaged by said abutment end the other arm on the opposite edge thcreohe spring tending to press said lever against said second arm, end handle moons for rotatio either of seid erms to move the holt in the same direction,

In e door latch, the cornhinetion 'of'a supporting plot-e, e holt slidehly mounted thereon, s lever pivoted intermediate its ends to seid plate and having an end portion-edapted'to engage against and move inel position, and hendle moons for operet ing either oil seid tvvo errned levers to move the holt in one direction,

5. lo a door leteh, the comhinetion of e supporting plate, e holt mounted for horizontal reciprocetion thereon, verticelly est/ending lever pivoted intermediete its ends to said plete end hevine on end portion positioned to move seid i sit in one direction," arms pivoted to seid plete and eds ted to ones e seid lever on o osite sides eat the pivot thereof, one on aging-said lever on one edge thereof end t e other on the opposite edge thereot, the pivots or sent arms losing in verticel elignrnent, and hen die-moons secured to "the pivots of sold arms.

t. lin or door letch, the combination oi'r' a latch plate, e holt slidahly mounted thereon and heving en ehntment, t. spring pressing seidr holt torvverdlv, e lever pivoted inter-'- ill) mediete its ends seid plate at at point shove seid holt end having e portion engaging send ahntment, end edepted to retract said holtfegeinst saidspring, or care member rnonnted on said plate, normally engeging said lever et a point below the pivot thereof, on the side of the lever opposite to that engagged by said ehutment, e corn member mounted on said plate, normelly on i gin seid lever at e point shove the pivot tree on the side of the lever opposite to that engeged by said first cam member, and hand means, for rotating said cone members to escillate seid lever to'retract theholt.

In testimony whereot l have signed my name tothis specification.

KINGSTON FURBES. 

